Am I strong enough?

"When people have been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?"
"You wouldn't want to. That's what makes it hard. You do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad."
Lina wondered if she was strong enough to be good.

I read section in the book I just finished, The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. I found it quite profound. In context it is referring to revenge being the beginnings of how wars and disasters are often started. Getting back at the person who hurt you. In order to reverse the direction and stop things from escalating, people need to be good to the other person, even if they don't want to.

That is life. People do and say things that can offend us, both intentionally and unintentionally. I like to think that if I am offended by someone that it is unintentional, maybe vent a bit, get over it and move on as if nothing has happened. Sometimes I stop and think that maybe that person is having a bad day. What if they got a phone call this morning with bad news? What if they were up all night with a sick child? I know I am not always nice, and most often when I am not, there is usually something going on in my life that is taking my focus away from the present.

How often are these little things (annoyances) the start of something more (bitterness and hatred)? How often do we let a comment from another person, known well or just met, taint our view of them?

Being good is hard...much harder than being bad. Being bad is easy...and in some cases can seem like a heck of a lot more fun then being good. Think about that. No wonder it is easy for Satan to tempt the natural man in us all.

Am I strong enough to be good? To choose the right? To give people the benefit of the doubt? I hope I am doing my best and strive to do better daily.